MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — OK, first thing: Pitching a perfect game in football isn’t the same as doing that in baseball. For one thing, nobody really completely understands the formula for calculating quarterback rating. Why isn’t it based on 100? Why 158.3?

Another thing: Not every pitcher who’s thrown a perfect game is a Hall of Famer. But with rare exception (Phil Humber the most glaring one) it takes a damn good pitcher to throw one.

Quarterbacks who have been perfect include the anonymous likes of Ray Mallouf (who had the very first one, Oct. 17, 1948, Cardinals at Giants), Dick Shiner, Bob Lee, Scott Hunter and Mike Buck. Still, only 61 times before Sunday had a quarterback ever turned in a perfect performance.

And now it’s 62. Geno Smith got there by completing 20-of-25 passes for 358 yards and three touchdowns, by not throwing an interception. In front of 30 to 40 family and friends, Smith had his greatest outing as a pro not 10 minutes from where he grew up.

“It was great to finish up strong,” Smith said after the Jets’ 37-24 victory. “We had great protection, ran the ball well too.

“I believe in myself and have complete confidence in myself but for me it’s about being more consistent and making good decisions. I thought that was all there today.”

So Smith becomes the fourth Jets quarterback to go perfect. Joe Namath was the first, also against the Dolphins, back on Oct. 22, 1967. Ken O’Brien did it twice: Nov. 2, 1986, against Seattle and Dec. 23, 1990, against New England. And Chad Pennington did it against the Colts on Nov. 16, 2003.

“I’m happy about the things Geno was able to accomplish today,” veteran offensive lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson said. “He’s worked so hard to be a good quarterback it’s good to see the payoff.”

Said Rex Ryan, perhaps coaching his final game as a Jet: “He was terrific. That’s what I’ve been looking for.”

Of course, Geno being Geno, it wasn’t really perfect; there was an inexcusable fumble in the first half when flushed from the pocket, he held the ball loose in his left hand and lost possession; the Dolphins scored a touchdown a few moments later.

“Pitiful,” was how Smith described it.

While this game may well raise eyebrows among Jets executives current and future, Smith insisted he wasn’t taking that away from the game.

“It’s not about sending messages,” he said. “Today was about going out and playing the game, limiting mistakes, making good decisions. I think I did that.”